John Edwards and his One America Bus (playing the Stones' "Start Me Up")attracted a large crowd in front of the Hamburg Inn at 8:30 on Friday night. Standing in front of the Iowa City landmark, Edwards struck familiar campaign themes like self-imposed election campaign reform, ending the war, and working to restore the United State's place on the world stage with former State Rep. Ed Fallon and a couple hundred others cheering him.
In the crowd, were a handful of Hillary Clinton supporters who attempted to suss out the Edwards issues that resonated for potential caucus-goers.
Earlier in the evening, at the Pappajohn Business Building at the University of Iowa, Elizabeth Edwards read selections to a near capacity crowd from her book "Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers" and answered a number of questions from the audience including a telling question of what she felt the role of the first "mate" was and what she would do as the next First Lady.
She said that her chief role would be as a sounding board to John because he trusts her to not have an agenda in giving him advice. She also mentioned how she felt that current First Lady, Laura Bush, was squandering the role of first lady by not addressing issues that are of importance and that she would work on funding after school programs like the one that was set up after her son Wade that provides access to computers to children in low socio-economic areas. She also said she would make funding cancer research a priority. At the conclusion of her talk, she was given a standing ovation by a mostly non-partisan crowd.
Earlier in the day, according to the Des Moines Register, Sen. John Edwards gave a vigorous speech Thursday at The Des Moines Register's Soapbox, focusing on fighting the entrenched powers he contends are holding America back.
THE RACE: Edwards, who finished second in the 2004 Iowa caucuses, held sizable leads among Iowa Democrats until recent months. His main rivals, Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, have closed the gap and turned the race into a three-way competition for the top spot.
KEY MESSAGE: Edwards has stepped up the passion with which he urges working Americans to stand together against the big-money powers that he says have "rigged" the system against them. "Do you want to know why you don't have universal health care? I have a very simple answer: The insurance companies, the drug companies, and the lobbyists who represent them - that's why you don't have universal health care."
CROWD: The audience grew to several hundred as Edwards spoke in the afternoon sunshine. Organizers said it appeared to be the largest crowd so far at the Soapbox. Some audience members were strong Edwards supporters. Some others identified themselves as Republicans who happened to be passing by and were curious to see the candidate in person.
ISSUES: Edwards, a former trial lawyer, is positioning himself as the candidate with the most specific plans to help average Americans. He cites his health care plan, his fair-trade proposals and his ideas to prevent corporations from taking over agriculture.
QUOTE: "We need a president of the United States who will take these people on and beat them. I've been doing it my whole life. For 20 years, I've done it in courtrooms. I've taken them on, and I've beat 'em. I've taken them on, and I've beat 'em. And I've taken them on, and I've beat 'em. And that's exactly what I'm going to do as the president of the United States."
No comments:
Post a Comment